Backpacks, Lunches, and Snacks. OH MY!
I can’t believe it’s September already. The past two months seem like a complete blur!
With September here, it means for most kids, they go back to school tomorrow. My eight year old daughter is excited to go back to school this year. She loves being involved in packing her lunch with me! When we go shopping, we are always thinking about new snacks that can make the day go easier for her at school.
Finding healthy snacks can be quite a challenge these days. I have a habit of throwing in a banana or an apple so she has some sort of fruit in her lunch. Maybe this year we can diversify those ‘healthy’ items a bit more…
The past few weeks, I have been going through our online farmer’s market www.cow-op.ca to find healthy snacks that not only benefit my daughter’s health, but support local farmers as well. Here’s what I found:
Wishing Well Farm is selling bags of small-to-medium carrots – Carrot sticks are always popular in our house.
This week Lockwood Farms has Cucumbers! Sliced cucumbers by themselves or with hummus from Fat Chili Farm, snacking perfection! Did you know hummus has multiple health benefits like protein, fiber, and low sugar? Just don’t tell the kids it’s good for them! ?
Cheese and crackers – One of my favorites. Change up the cheese, change up the cracker. On www.cow-op.ca you can buy the most beautiful local cheeses from Cowichan Station Creamery and Cure. hOMegrown Living Foods sells a U-bake Cracker mix, so you can make a big batch of your own nutrient-dense crackers to pop in the kids’ lunches and snack on throughout your day, too.
Cherry tomatoes – ‘tis the season!
Can’t go wrong with freshly picked Apples from Fruit Forest Farm in Cobble Hill – check out the insane diversity of apple varieties they have for sale this week!
That’s my Jam (any flavor) and Island Nut Roastery peanut butter – are you a crunchy or a smooth -type?
Organic Yogurt from Promise Valley Farm. Excited to try their new Lemon flavor!
Hard boiled eggs – A variety of farmers have eggs available, even quail eggs!
One of the hardest parts about the first few weeks of school is dinner time. Planning ahead for meals. Juggling work, after school activities and appointments, life can feel very hectic. Dinner time comes so fast!
Thankfully, I have discovered a few frozen meals on Cow-op.ca, and I plan on ordering some of these frozen meals this week to help me on those “crazy” days. The days I work from home, I can just put something in the slow cooker.
One favorite that I enjoyed recently was the Lasagna from Farm Table Inn. By adding some buns from True Grain and some mixed greens, it was a satisfying meal with enough for the two of us for two nights!
There are so many options on cow-op.ca to help you get a great start to the school year. Let me know what kid-friendly snacks work for your family, and what items you found recently on Cow-op that you loved! You can email me at darciecowop@gmail.com or comment below.
I’ll have a follow up for you in a few weeks to let you know how my daughter and I did! ?
Thanks for reading
Darcie Nolan
Food Hub Facilitator & Cow-op Blogger